Make Me
by Sanru
Summary: Curiosity can be a good thing but it can also be really bad. April makes a decision and her life spirals out of control from there. Partially inspired by the 2014 movie.


Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author Note: I have to admit, I was dreading the new movie but it was actually a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Still not a fan of how the turtles look (Seriously? Why do they have lips?) but overall it was a great popcorn flick that had a plot line reminiscence of the '80's cartoon and enough brotherly bantering to keep me laughing throughout.

There was one point in the movie that Donatello hacks April's computer and asks the young reporter to come meet them. This story was then born with a classic 'what if'.

Don't worry: No spoilers.

* * *

Make Me

* * *

She stared at the laptop for a moment in disbelief. Like any sensible girl would go meet up with four strangers –regardless if they were ninja mutant turtle teenagers or not- especially alone. She glanced off to the side to where her cell phone was charging on the opposite side of the room. They had wiped her phone, threatened to come after her and had done nothing to make her life any easier lately. They had inadvertently caused her to lose her job and really she was just curious as to what they could possibly do to her.

April huffed slightly as she quickly typed into her browser's search engine, _make me._

Nothing happened. There were no strange noises or sounds coming from her laptop. She was wondering if anything was about to happen and braced herself for a window breaking in or the front door to come crashing down with a pissed off ninja mutant turtle teenager behind it.

After several minutes of nothing happening, April went back to searching on Foot activity. That had been rather anticlimactic but Donatello had sounded unsure of what they were even considering to do if she refused. Had they just assumed that she would just show up? Seriously?

Well, this was going to be interesting. April couldn't help the slight smirk that spread across her face. "Alright turtles, do your worse."

-Break-

It wasn't like she could just spend her remaining funds willy-nilly but Taylor was right, a latte was just the right amount of pick-me-up that she needed as she started her first day of job hunting. She had a four year degree in journalism, there had to be a job out in the city that she could get and make a decent wage at. Rent was due at the end of the week and she was still two hundred short.

And she was not taking money out of her savings if she could help it.

"I'm sorry ma'am but your card is not going through."

April stared at the cashier behind the counter before sharing a look with Taylor who was waiting to pay for her latte and cinnamon bun. This was insane, why would her card be locked up? A horrible thought began to build in the back of her mind but it was impossible, hacking her computer and hacking her bank were two completely different things. There was no way Donatello was that good.

She handed over her credit card, unsurprised that it too was declined. How on earth had he managed to hack her account? Just how good was he? And what else had he managed to do?

"I'll get it April," Taylor said behind her obviously taking pity on her plight as she pulled out some extra cash. "Don't worry about it."

Oh she was going to worry about it because there was no telling what else he had done to her.

As soon as she got back to their room, April all but ran to her room and snatched her phone. She needed to call her bank and find out what Donatello had done. Her imagination was running wild with thoughts of identity theft with maxed out cards in her name. She was in enough debt just from college let alone whatever he had done.

She unlocked her phone only for a notification to pop up immediately. "No service?" That was impossible. She had six bars last night!

Since Taylor had left for work from the cafe, there was no way to borrow her phone. "DAMMIT!" She snapped as she threw her phone on her bed and stormed around the small room before throwing herself on the bed next to her phone. She scrubbed at her face before slapping her hands on the bed and sitting up in determination.

There was no way she was going to give up that easily.

She was unsurprised when her laptop refused to power up but she was surprised that Taylor's laptop was just as unresponsive. A couple beeps came from the useless phone she had left in her room. This time when she unlocked the phone, she was notified of a new text message from an unlisted number.

_Will you come meet us now?_

She set her jaw, now this meant war.

_No._

-Break-

She headed out after that but Donatello was cyber stalking her. No matter where she went for internet she was always blocked. Even though she had borrowed a phone from some random man on the street, Donatello still managed to disable the service before she could finish dialing the number. She returned to the apartment harried, and more than a little pissed.

The text waiting for her was the last straw.

_Will you come meet us now?_

She sighed and sent back, _Unlock my life._

And just like that her phone had service again.

She blinked in disbelief, it couldn't have been that easy, but her computer started up and her card worked at the ATM down the street. The address to where the turtles wanted to meet her was the only other message on her phone from Donatello and after a moment of deliberation, she set the phone aside and ignored it.

It was time to see how those mutant boys dealt with being stood up.

-Break-

The following day, April wasn't surprised that her accounts were locked up again when she tried buying another latte. It was a good thing she had grabbed some money from her account the previous day so she could get her caffeine fix. Her phone and computer were also on the fritz again but she had expected that. Donatello was back up to his old tricks again. He really needed to try something new.

But it wasn't Don she had to continually worry about.

It was Michelangelo.

She had returned to the apartment after going down to the career center and 'finding' that three of their computers were broken. Donatello was still cyber stalking her. She just hoped that he fixed the computers before the career center had to call a repair man. It wouldn't surprise her if they tried to charge her for the repairs.

She dropped her bag on the couch and walked over to the fridge. Ironically she had been thinking about how well those turtles were doing at making her life miserable when she opened the door and something sprung out at her. Whatever it was it was black, moving oddly and was very hairy.

Her first thought was spider and she acted accordingly.

The first thing she grabbed happened to be the dirty sauce pan she had used last night to make dinner but it was heavy and a subtle weapon so what it was wasn't important. She then repeatedly slammed it on the offensive creature screaming the whole time. It was only after the fourth hit that she realized that it wasn't moving and cautiously moved the pan off to the side enough to see the giant spider only to do a double take.

Yes, it was a spider that was about the size of a dinner plate but other than the furry body and the eight legs the similarity ended there. On its back was a large smile face and the spider as a whole was rather cartoonish. "Seriously?" She asked no one in particular as she peeked into the fridge only to see an elaborate launcher with a trigger set to the top of the fridge's door.

A prank? Whatever she had been expecting she had not been expecting a prank. She closed the door and glanced around the apartment. There was no telling where else there was something waiting for her to find at some point during the afternoon or evening or possible even the following morning. She sighed and started opening cabinets. Taylor would be home in a few hours and her roommate was already talking about moving back home. There was no reason to give her another reason to leave. April hated looking for roommates and Taylor was actually really nice, probably the best roommate she ever had.

After going through the kitchen her phone pinged as she started into the living room on her prank search. She checked it noticing that it was another message from Donatello. _You're not going to find them all April, Michelangelo is a pranking master. Just come meet us and I'll tell you where they all are._

"No I'm not going to come meet you, especially if you keep harassing me like this," she grumbled as she sent back another _NO_. This was starting to get old. Were they just going to keep harassing her until she went to meet them? She sighed and answered her own question. Probably.

She went through the entire apartment finding several more pranks scattered throughout the various rooms. All of them were fairly harmless if nothing but annoying. Several more thing came launching out of various cabinets and the small wooden box that held Taylor's beadwork on the coffee table. There was a bucket of water precariously placed on the partially closed door to her room. She nearly knocked it over trying to get it down without it spilling but the worse was in the bathroom.

Cling wrap across the toilet was not and never would be forgiven.

Still, after the scouring she had given the apartment, April flopped on the couch feeling good about cleaning the pranks from her life. She picked up the remote intending to watch some television before she made dinner only for her discover her cable was disabled. Donatello had struck again.

She sighed and went over to her movie collection. Two could play at this game. Soon a light hearted romantic comedy was playing on the screen. She sunk down into the couch cushions, after everything that had been happening she really needed this right now.

Taylor walked in an hour later looking like a drowned rat. "Are you okay?" April asked as she sat up worried about her friend. She glanced at the window, when had it started raining?

"Yeah," Taylor said even though the reassurance didn't reach her eyes. She shucked off her soaked coat and gingerly hanged it up away from everything else to dry. "Just cold and wet. I'm going to take a shower. Can you make me some tea or something for when I get out?"

"Of course," April said as Taylor headed for the bathroom, stopping only long enough to get some things from her room. April sunk back down on the couch to wait for five minutes before going into the kitchen to start the tea. She'd been in Taylor's position more than once and there was nothing fun about being stuck outside in early March when the clouds decided to open up.

She had just finished pouring the boiling water into two cups -tea sounded like a wonderful idea- when Taylor screamed from the bathroom. She slammed the kettle back onto the burner and ran down the short hallway to the bathroom. "Taylor!" She called as she knocked on the door and tried the doorknob at the same time. She opened the door a crack, "I'm coming in, are you al-right?"

She squeaked out that last bit because as she opened the door, April came face to face with her roommate who had the most grief stricken look on her face that she had ever seen. She sniffled and reached a trembling hand up to her hair letting out a half sob that April was sure meant that she was dead. The once straight flowing blonde locks now had streaks of black and grey going through it.

She had missed a prank.

-Break-

After calming her distressed roommate down and going out to get hair dye to finish the job Michelangelo had started. April spent the next hour dying her roommate's hair dark brown. The only way Taylor's hair was going to be blonde again was if she got it stripped and re-dyed her original color which was something that neither of them had money for.

When she finally managed to get to her room several hours later, April found another new text waiting for her. Again it was Donatello asking if she was going to come meet them. This time there was no way she was going to let him off easy.

_How could he!? You can tell Mikey thank you for pranking my roommate who might now move out on me and I don't have enough to cover rent this month! I'm going on a trip so I can get away from you!_

Of course she wasn't really leaving. She couldn't afford that and she really had nowhere else to go. She curled up in her bed and began to wonder if this had really been such a good idea to begin with. Those turtles were making her life a living hell but it's not like she could really blame them for her poor decision.

Maybe it was time to go meet them.

-Break-

Being awoken by a scream in the middle of the night was never a good way to wake up. April was out of bed and snatching up the pepper spray she carried before she was even really awake. She was out of her room and nearly tripped over something in the hallway as she stuck her head into Taylor's room. Someone was in there, backing away from the bed and April quickly stepped in, ducking around in front of whoever and spraying the can right into the intruder's face.

That sent the intruder falling backwards into the hall which had just enough ambient light coming up from the street that she caught a quick glance of the man she attacked. She got a fleeting glimpse of red and a shell before he vanished down the hallway. She didn't have a chance to go after him before Taylor snapped on her bedside lamp already dailing the cops to report the break in with trembling hands

April wondered if Raphael was alright but didn't make a move to go check on him. It served him right to be terrorizing her roommate like that. Why had he even been in her room?

She glanced out into the hall and noticed Taylor's duffle was sitting next to the door. Of course, Raph had assumed it was her room and went in to get her. She sighed as Taylor came up next to her, holding her tennis racket in a threatening manner with one hand while the other clutched her phone.

"The cops are coming," she said glancing around like she thought people were going to spring at her from out of the molding around the door. "We should meet them at the door."

-Break-

April flopped down on her bed exhausted and more upset than she had been in a long time. The police had finally left after a thorough search of the apartment and -after finding no trace of an intruder- lectured them on watching frightening movies before bed and telling them that if this ever happened again there would be fines associated with falsifying an emergency.

April doubted that Taylor was going to be able to sleep ever again here and it hadn't surprised her when Taylor told her she would be moving out later that week. About the only good thing was that her soon-to-be-former roommate had given over her share of the rent. At least that was one thing she didn't have to worry about.

As she she curled back up in her bed her eyes caught her phone and she bit her lip. She knew that Raph had managed to get out of the apartment but that didn't really mean he was alright. Maybe he was allergic to pepper spray or something? After a moment of debating, she reached over and picked it up, opening up the screen and sending a quick message to Donnie.

_Is Raph alright?_

She had barely set the phone down when it pinged an incoming message. She was kind of surprised that he had answered so fast this lat-early.

_He has been better but it's really his own fault for taking off on his own like that and going into the wrong room. Are you and your roommate are alright?_

She sighed in relief and sent back, _Both of us are a little freaked out and have had several years scared off our life but we are alright._

_Good to hear, I've already dealt with the warning you two received from the police so don't worry about that showing up on either of your records again._

She nodded to the phone. A weight she hadn't realized that had settled on her shoulders was suddenly gone. _Thank you, Donnie._

_April, please, come meet us. We need to talk._

April thought about the card still tucked in her wallet. She had promised Eric that she would help find them but she found herself scared at the outcome. Why were the turtles so adamant about meeting with her? What did they want from her?

_No, I'm scared. _She admitted.

The reply was immediate, _April, were not going to hurt you. We just need to talk with you._

She shook her head at the phone. _After everything that you have done, why should I believe you?_

She set the phone off to the side and pulled the covers over her head but left the light on, feeling comforted by the lack of shadows around her.

-Break-

Remarkably, her life was back to normal the following day. Everything that Donatello had done was gone and her life was semi normal again. Taylor move out two days later, the break in only steeling her opinion that she wanted nothing more to do with New York City ever again. April couldn't blame her and even helped her and her family with the move. April was going to miss her.

Of course Vernon had heard about the break in and offered to stay with her for a bit which she flat out refused. She knew the real reason why he wanted to stay over and besides she wasn't in any danger, she knew who was behind the break in after all and why. The offer to take her out to dinner was appreciated as well but really April just wanted to be left alone for a bit.

The crack of wood snapping woke her that night and she grabbed her phone as she quickly jumped into her closet. That was wrong, Leo had even said that they didn't break stuff and Raph hadn't broken anything when he had broken in. She cued up the unlisted number Donatello used and called it as more crashes came from her living room.

He answered on the second ring, "April?"

"Donnie, please tell me that is one of you out there," she said breathlessly as the door to her bedroom was kicked in. She realized it wasn't one of them because it sounded like a hurricane with a small army had stormed into her room.

"No we're all here. April what's happening?"

Before she had a chance to answer the closet door was opened and she barely had time to gasp and shrink away before she was grabbed and pulled out into her bedroom. She kicked out, catching one of the Foot soldiers that had broken into her apartment in the face even though it barely phased him. She screamed at the general direction of the phone even as it was torn from her hand. "Donatello! It's the Foot! It's the Fo-eeemmmppphhh!" She shrieked as a gag was forced between her lips and she was shoved onto her bed. She whined behind her gag terrified if what the Foot could do to her and what they could possible want with her.

Her arms were wretched behind her back and bound with a rough cord at the same time her ankles were grabbed and forced together only to be bound with the same type of cord. She could vaguely hear Donatello's small voice coming from the speaker on her phone. "April?! April!? What's happening?! Guys, get up! We have a problem! April?!"

Then after her feet were bound and she was thrown up and over a Foot soldier's shoulder, a calm feminine voice that she had heard before calling out a retreat order drowned out Donatello's frantic yelling. "She will not be harmed until I order it. When I deem it long enough I will call you from this phone and tell you where you can come get her. If you search for her before then, you will only find her body." Her phone beeped as it hung up and on some unvocalized command the soldier carrying her turned and left her bedroom. As she was carried through her ruined apartment she was glad that Taylor wasn't there anymore.

-Break-

April didn't know where she was taken. They carried her downstairs and threw her into the back of the van where she stayed in the floor while Foot soldiers loomed over her. Her heart was pounding and the gag was all but suffocating her. The van bustled and jolted along for what seemed like ever before finally pulling off the road and going a short distance before coming to a stop. A part of her mind not completely frazzeled pointed out at least she wasn't bouncing around on the floor of a van anymore.

She was hauled out of the back of a van and into some kind of warehouse. She struggled as best as she could but there was little she could actually do. One of the soldiers finally lost his patience with her and slapped her so hard across the face that her teeth were ringing. She was thrown into an empty room and the door was slammed shut behind her, there was the unmistakable click of a lock engaging and then it went silent. For a moment she laid there, expecting something else to happen, but when that moment passed she looked around at her prison.

It was nothing but a featureless room. The Foot must've either never had it furnished on had removed all the furniture for her arrival. Either way there was nothing in the room to try and break free with. She twisted her hands in their bonds but there was no give. All she managed to do was scrape the skin on her wrists on the harsh bounds.

April slid herself slowly, inch by inch, across the floor. It took her forever but she felt better the farther away from the door she was. She curled up into the smallest ball that she could and watched the door fearfully, trying to keep her calm even though she really just wanted to panic. She swallowed past the gag and rested her head on the floor, focusing on her breathing to try and keep herself calm.

She wasn't sure how long she lay there but at one point she did lose control and hyperventilated. She woke with a raging thirst and feeling nauseous. She was so tired and wrung out. She just wanted this to end, preferably with being rescued and taken home despite the fact that her home was little more than rubbish at the moment and probably considered a crime scene.

She managed to doze off and on for a bit as time seemed to crawl around her. She no longer knew what time it was or how long she had been captive. Her mind started to wander, focusing on more pleasant things than her current situation. She thought of trampolines and Vernon's dry wit. She thought of her career as a reporter and how much further she had wanted it all to go. That of course led her back to the biggest story of the decade that she was currently hoping were on their way to save her.

She had drifted off again into a half doze only to be jolted awake by gunfire. She screamed behind her gag as best as could as automatic rifle fire cut through the warehouse. Several loud bangs followed and the ground seemed to buckle as an explosion rocked the building. She pulled her knees closer to her chest and pressed her face down to her chest as much as she could, shivering. She was so scared.

The sounds of fighting were getting closer and had it been possible, April would have curled into a tighter ball. Tears were tracing down her cheeks and sobs were escaping her as she began to tremble. She had wanted to be strong but what if the Foot tried to use her as a hostage? She didn't want to die.

Suddenly the door was kicked in with enough force to almost take it off both its hinges. She squeaked behind the gag, flinching and trying to brace herself for the worse only to hear a voice that was more than welcomed. "April?" She looked up at her name only to see Leonardo standing there, both words drawn and looking like he was itching for a fight.

A whine escaped her as their eyes met and then suddenly Leo was right there next to her. He had putting away one of his katanas away and sliding his now free hand under her shoulders, lifting her off the cold floor and to his chest. "It's alright, April. You're safe. I won't let anything happen to you." He said softly as he tucked his sword behind her and cut her hands free.

April immediately latched onto him, both her arms wrapping around his neck despite the fact that her hands felt like little more than useless clubs. She pressed her face into the side of his neck and started sobbing again. He cut her feet free and wrapped both his arms around her. It was only then that she realized that she was shaking like a leaf against him. Leonardo was warm compared to her and the strength of his arms felt like the only thing that was holding her together anymore.

"It's okay, April. It's okay," one of his hands came up and pulled the gag off her gently. She sucked in a full breath of air for the first time since she was kidnapped but that just allowed her to cry harder into his neck. Leo bore it all stockley, holding her closer, allowing her to cry and promising her over and over again that she was safe, that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. "You're safe. I gottcha."

Leo suddenly stiffened and April barely had time to wonder as to why before Leo pulled her off him and spun around to face the door of the room. His shell was in the way, but April could make out the shadow of a Foot soldier in the doorway pointing some kind of rifle at Leo. She froze, knowing that Leo wouldn't move to risk exposing her to harm and mad at herself for being so scared that she couldn't seem move and do something.

As if an unseen command was given, Leonardo suddenly lunged forward. In three steps he was on the other side of the room, slapping the gun up towards the ceiling as it discharged. April ducked her head, covering it as best as she could with her arms as she bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming at the sudden noise. A harsh explosion of breath along with the sickening thump of flesh meeting flesh came from the doorway and she looked up in time to see the Foot soldier falling to the ground in a heap as Leo turned back to her. "Come on," he said holding his hand out to her. "Let's get out of here."

She nodded and pulled herself to her feet slowly. Everything seemed to be stiff and sore and she really wanted nothing more than to lie still and wait for the police to show up. She managed to get to her feet when she realized that Leonardo was next to her again. She flinched at his sudden proximity and immediately felt bad at the slight hurt she could see in his eyes but that didn't seem to faze him as he held his hand out again. "I'll help you."

She nodded her head but instead of taking that as a cue to help her along, Leonardo just scooped her up, holding her as in one arm as if she was little more than a feather. Moving much quicker and more silently than his size alluded too he was back over to next to the door again. His still held his one sword at ready as he peered out onto the warehouse floor, careful not to expose her to any harm as he checked to make sure the coast was clear.

It might have just been because he had rescued her but at that moment, April decided that Leonardo was more chivalrous than most men she knew.

"Okay, let's-" Leo started to say when an explosion seemed to rock the building about three feet off location. April screamed as Leo fell to his knees, both his arms wrapping around her as he covered her with his body. His body jolted and a grunt escaped him as something crashed down onto his shell but April didn't realize it was the doorway to her prison room until he casually shrugged it off as he stood up. The realization that she could have died in that collapse caused a shiver to trace through her and Leo held her closer in response. "It's okay, you're safe."

"That totally was not my fault," Michelangelo's voice rang out through the ruined warehouse as the telltale smell of smoke reached her nose. The slight squeak in his voice was all Donatello seemed to need to know that the explosion was all his fault. Leo started moving towards the voices, as gracefully and quickly as any athlete she had ever seen.

"Mikey! I told all of you to stay away from the north end for a reason! Do you do the exact opposite of what I tell you just to an-"

"Stuff it Don! We need to find April!" Raphael snapped.

"Already have her," Leo yelled as he came around the corner. April caught a quick glance of the other three turtles as her savior carried her past them. "Let's move!"

Raphael led the charge out of the building, literally going through a side door. The four turtles were across the expanse of clear area between them and the nearest building as April found herself crying again to her utter horror. Why was she crying now?

"Leo! The 'chaku express is ready for departure!" April barely heard the end of the sentence before Leo was jumping. She turned her face away from his neck long enough to look forward and saw him put his foot on the chain of one of Michelangelo's nunchakus that the other turtle was holding taught. "Hi baby cakes!" he said as he heaved his weapon up and launched both April and his brother up what seemed like four floors to her. She gasped but managed to hold in the scream that wanted to escape her and took it as progress.

The world flipped and rotated around her and suddenly Leonardo was landing on the roof. He took several steps away from the edge and looked down at her. His piercing blue eyes met hers and he frowned at whatever it was he saw. "Donnie," he said over his shoulder and the turtle with the goggle set was suddenly there, his hand on the back of her head, turning to gently towards him.

"Hey angel!" Mikey was suddenly there as Donatello took her hand in one of his. His headset beeped several times and he frowned at whatever the display was showing him. "Are you al-" The smallest of the three turtles suddenly looked horrified. "Did they hit you?!" he said in disbelief. Raph suddenly peered over his shoulder and a look of raw furry seemed to roll over his face like a thunder cloud.

She managed a small nod as Donatello corrected his brother, "Actually that bruise on her face indicates that she was slapped, rather forcefully."

"That's it," Raph suddenly growled and stalked away. "Time to return the favor."

"Yeah," Michelangelo seemed to bounce on his feet for a moment before throwing up some kind of gang sign. "No one hits my girl and gets away with it!" he exclaimed before bouncing away to follow his brother.

"Wait! Guys!" Leo said and took a step as if to follow only to realize he was still holding her. "Here," he said and April suddenly found herself in Donatello's arms. "Get back here you two!" He said as he went after his two errant brothers.

Donatello jumped slightly as she was turned over to him as if it had been the last thing he was expecting. He turned as if to say something to Leo giving April a view of the blue banded turtle grabbing Mikey and Raph by their bandanas and pulling them back away from the edge of the roof. The two turtles rounded on the third and a whispered argument broke out among the three turtles with the occasional push or shove to emphasize a point.

"Donnie, I'm sorry," April said as she looked away from the argument on the other side of the roof. "I should have just come met with you like you asked." So much could have been avoided if only her curiosity hadn't gotten the better of her. She sunk a little more into his arms and let her head rest against his chest. "I'm so sorry."

Donatello sighed, adjusting his grip on her before speaking. "We're the ones who should be apologizing April. I should have told you why we wanted to meet with you and we shouldn't have hounded you like we did." He was quiet for a moment longer, watching as Leo and Raph were practically nose to nose with Mikey futilely try to push them away from each other. "We also should have guessed that the Foot would come after you."

"Why do they want me?" she asked, shivering slightly as she realized how cold it was. Pajama shorts and t-shirt were not the best things to be wearing out on a rooftop in the middle of the night at this time of year.

"They want us and tried to get to us through you." Don turned away from her for a moment. "Excuse me!" He yelled at the other three turtles. For some reason, Raph now had Mikey in a headlock and was pointing at Leonardo's chest. Leo's fists were partially up like he was about to start boxing with the other turtle. "I can understand the need for revenge but let's worry about that after we have April -who happens to be in shock, exhausted, and dehydrated- somewhere safe!"

The three turtles broke apart, though Raph and Leo were still shooting each other angry looks. Mikey bounced right up to them, looking at April in concern. "Don't worry baby. We'll protect you! As soon as you're safe in our crib, I'm going to mess those guys up good for you!" The reassurance that they were going protect her was a welcomed one and April relaxed more into Donatello's grip as they started off.

She was going to have to lay down the law on Mikey soon though. She was no one's 'baby'.


End file.
